Guilty Crown – 01

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「発生 genesis」 (Hassei)

If there’s one thing that I was worried about coming into Production I.G’s sci-fi post-apocalyptic original noitaminA series, it would be the inadvertent reader hype created by my own anticipation, both in the Fall 2011 Preview and the site’s banners. The series topped the seasonal poll with 68% of all voters including it in their top 5 picks, so the last thing I would wanted is to read a bunch of disappointed comments about a dismal first showing. No, I’m not arrogant enough to believe that my personal impressions are that influential in the anime fan community, but I do always seem to get flack about something I’ve said in my one of my posts. Big red and bold disclaimers about personal taste don’t even save me from people getting in their shots in at every opportunity. In the one and a half years since I’ve taken over this blog, I’ve let all the “downhill” boycott remarks fall upon deaf ears; however, I would feel somewhat responsible in this case since I didn’t maintain the usual reserved stance toward all new shows. I was cautiously optimistic about last season’s BLOOD-C so I didn’t get any backlash about it topping the summer poll and turning out the way it did, but if Guilty Crown somehow turned out to be a real stinker, I don’t think I’d ever hear the end of it. Vehemently vocal first-time commenters would surely be asking that I just close the site right away. (You bastards know who you are.)

Luckily, the premiere of Guilty Crown should satisfy most viewers, saving me from having to deal with remarks about how I’m a terrible blogger, how I should die in a fire, and how they’re never visiting Random Curiosity again. (The anime blogosphere is a very unforgiving place.) For the most part, I can just let the three-and-a-half-minute opening scene with the theme song “Euterpe” sung by 17-year-old “chelly” (i.e. EGOIST) speak for itself. This includes Yuzuriha Inori (Kayano Ai) and her extremely revealing and unbelievably mesmerizing outfit, which realistically, only stays on with the power of anime magic. There’s no denying that she’s the main attraction of this first episode (and likely the rest of the series) with her plunging front slit and exposed back, but I was actually most captivated by the tenacity she showed as a member of “Sougisha” 「葬儀社」 (i.e. “Undertakers”), the resistance group fighting to liberate Japan from its false peace under GHQ’s armed rule. Inori gets injured, abused, and threatened yet we don’t hear so much as a whimper out of her. She’s a very uncharacteristic terrorist, which is ultimately why I’m so intrigued by her character.

The same could probably be said about our main protagonist, Ouma Shuu (Kaji Yuuki), whose voice and mannerisms alone remind me too much of NO.6′sShion. Shuu has resigned himself to life under GHQ’s military rule and spends his days peacefully away from society — including his classmates Menjou Hare (Shimamura Yuu), Samukawa Yahiro (Mizushima Takahiro), and Tamadate Souta (Sakaguchi Daisuke) — and doesn’t break from that even when his favorite Internet singer (who ended up flashing him) gets dragged off by Keidou Shuuichirou’s (Inoue Kazuhiko) “Anti Bodies” special unit — sent to retrieve the “Void Genome” that Inori stole. In moments like that, especially in a first episode, I would expect our “hero” to at least get roughed up trying to save the heroine, but Shuu cowers in fear instead and ends up kicking himself over it. Normally this would be somewhat irksome, but given the flashbacks of what I presume are the victims of the “Apocalypse Virus” from ten years ago, I’m a lot more forgiving of his cowardice. I even think it adds a deeply-rooted complexity to his character, which he made strides toward overcoming when he went to rescue Inori.

At the moment, there are a lot of unanswered questions as to why Shuu possesses “The Power of Kings” in his right hand, allowing him to extract weapons from the “Void” within a person’s body (which is comprised of their essence according to the eyecatch), and why Inori’s commander and co-star of the series, Tsutsugami Gai (Nakamura Yuuichi), sent Shuu to go and rescue her. From the look of things, Shuu obtained his special ability when the Void Genome capsule was shattered, but it’s almost as if Gai and Inori were both expecting this power to awaken within him. Whatever the case, the exciting way everything played out at the end made me overlook the fact that Shuu somehow knew exactly what to do just as he was about to be killed. Things are off to a great start on the production and story side of things, and we’ve only been informally introduced to some other resistance members, such as Tsugumi (Taketatsu Ayana) and wheelchair-bound pilot Shinomiya Ayase (Hanazawa Kana). In many ways, the story itself is pretty reminiscent of CODE GEASS — right down to the main protagonist with the Power of Kings, the resistance group trying to liberate Japan, and the prevalent use of mechs — which isn’t all that unexpected given that we have the same screenwriter on board. Seeing as GEASS was ridiculously popular, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing though.

* The official spelling for the insect-like robot’s name is Fyu-Neru, which is presumably a play on the word “funeral” since their group is known as the Undertakers.
* The opening theme, “My Dearest”, will be performed by Supercell with their new vocalist, 15-year-old Koeda, who was picked from a 2000 person audition. For a sample of her singing, see Nicosound here, here, here, and here. (Care of Patrik.)
* Full-length images: 06, 14, 27, 41.

Pretty decent, the awesome animation won the episode for me. The writing was lazy at parts, lots of cliches and a few plot holes and contrived parts How come that blonde guy knew who the kid was? Never explained. I guess it’s implied that he saw it through the robot but… Still. Not a good sign.

Plus a few things felt like borrowing. Code Geass w awesome let’s put in a scene where people are being massacred in the city, but with no real explain action why except its implied it’s for keeping a virus away or something. Hey, people like MAcross, let’s put in a singer girl but give her no personality.

…actually looking back, it’s not looking so good, though really, when I’m watching I just go along for the ride, XD and lately I’ve seen enough ad anime lately that this one is looking pretty good in contrast. Will keep watching, hoping the writing improves, they can do much better. Since we’re past the contrived beginning, hopefully the plot can stretch a bit and grow into tis own. ALOT of series I like have meh beginnings but glorious ends.

That was actually… pretty bad. It feels like a less cool Code Geass with Shinji Ikari as the protagonist. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it and I want Guilty Crown to succeed, but I found quite a bit of things which were pretty annoying. I think it’s just easier to line up what I thought was done right and what was done wrong.

The negatives:
- The pacing was downright awful all throughout. Should’ve been split into at least two episodes
- Shuu is pathetic. It isn’t his cowardice, which I understand since most people would stand on the sidelines given the situation, but the self-loathing was absolutely unbearable.
- The whole “Ima pull a knife on you” confrontation between Shuu and the gang was just stupid and very random imo.
- I just find it absurdly difficult that the resistance instantly trusts Shuu immediately after threatening him.

Maybe I’m being too harsh, but I just disliked a bunch about this particular episode. I predict that the overall result will get better, but for now I’m a bit let down.

Also I think the resistance “trusts” him right away probably due to the circumstances. They don’t have the time to figure out whether he’s good or bad since the soldiers are coming in slaughtering people left and right. They just know that he have no choice but to listen to them and try to live.

I find the self loathing silly as I actually had more respect for him at that time rather then later when he snapped and charged the guns unarmed. It takes more guts to admit your weakness and the title of coward to do the best in a bad situation. Understandably so is this an anime where people power up randomly, but it doesn’t make it less of a stupid act. It’s a bit more understandable I guess if we assume he had only planed to get the girl out of the danger, rather then assaulting mechs with his fists.

Well, I guess since it’s the first episode, a lot of answers are still to come – but surely I felt the episode sometimes rushed and clichéd – they could’ve done some stuff better. Maybe there’ll be explanations for these on the next episodes, who knows.

I just feel like this should have been split into two episodes, especially since it’s a 2-cour. But as you said, this is only the first episode, so there’ll be more answers and hopefully better episodes to come. I just really want this series to succeed.

The reason why they portray Shuu as cowardly is that later on, as he undergoes more experiences , you will see the changes that happen to him. Its called contrast. Its called change.
The reason why they show the confrontation in the slum is to introduce the “Cool and Aloof” character, Gai. Gai serves as a contrast to Shuu.
It seems like everyone complains about cliches, but most people dont even understand the most basic plot devices in storytelling. Instead they whine about the details. It’s like taking someone to an opera and hear them complaining about how a male is playing a female character, or how the costumes look stupid.

Wow. I really like the series so far. It’s been a while for an anime to captivate me with the first episode. I especially like, Shu, because maybe he reacted like a normal human being would–probably be relieved that he was away from danger instead of automatically thinking “IM A MAN I MUST SAVEEE HERRRRR” Anyways, great episode.

wow just wow, i havent watched it yet, but the screencaps, OP Seq and your summary divine, AS ALWAYS, have intrigued me into loving this series already. I was already hyped by the banners, preview, and polls, but i also read anime-take forums and such to find out whats good per season.

So far random c has not failed me yet, if a series fell short of hype its the veiwers fault and the direction of the story and pacing (using blood-c as my example, i still like it alot though)

I personally love artisitic quality and creativity in anime, of course story and development have much more to do with anime success but when both go hand in hand, a series can surpass phenomenal levels (Ano hana, Madoka, Steins Gate, Code Geass)

P.S.
Divine do not let anyone on this site even faze you, ive also been a long time follower of this site, since about 1yr before omni left and have seen the amazing work and progress you have made with this site, i visit this site religiously every single day (no lie). You have done some outstanding work blogging the various animes per season, especially with the increase in the number for a few of the past season, and i take your opinions with high regard. Yes you are human and you make mistakes, and not every word out of your mouth is gold (lol) but you are also maintaining this site with your increasingly busy schedule for the most part for free (i dont see this site polluted with ads so…).
To sum up you have done a fantastic job with the site and i know Omni is freakin proud of you, and every good anime otaku who’s been part of this site will agree with me.

Couldn’t have said it better Fractal…I too almost religiously visit this site every day; and I will never get tired of saying a big THANK YOU Divine for everything you’ve done and are doing for this site!

Catchy intro (mecha stuff + an hot girl singing and flirting with a fucking Espada? That’s cool!) but messy episode. I don’t know what to think, everything seems a little too confusing. By the way, picking a sword like that (damn, it seems the futuristic version of Gatsu’s Dragonslayer) from the chest of a girl is clearly symbolic. I can’t decipher it yet, but it’s sooo symbolic.

I hardly ever bother to comment, due to mostly my own laziness but I feel that you are still doing a great job holding this blog together, keep it up and don’t let people bother you.

Other than that, I found it very similar to GEASS but like you said it’s not a bad thing. Here’s to hoping the females will carry this series like how C.C and the others did for GEASS(especially considering Shuu isn’t nowhere near as awesome as Lelouch).

Please, please don’t let those haters affect you… RandomC is the only animeblog site that i subscribe to… because for me this is the most reliable, unbiased, anime blog i’ve ever been. From the past till now… And that makes you one of my most favorite blogger.

haters can always hate, but don’t let that bother divine. I have been visiting this site since the first episode of code geass R1 and never got tired of reading your awesome bloggings !! I won’t quite on this blog unless it decides to quite on me ( metaphorically of course ^^)

Thanks for the concern everyone, but I’m not so much bothered as I am amazed by where these predetermined misconceptions come from. I couldn’t understand the rationale behind them and figured I’d seriously respond at least once so that anyone who legitimately thinks the same gets their facts straight.

I’m open to criticism, but only the kind that makes sense and is from regular readers that I actually care about.

To be frank, I thought that the Guilty Crown banner and background came about a month a too early. I don’t even remember a series that got both a banner and a background before it even premiered, except for maybe Infinite Stratos if my memory isn’t failing me. Series’ with banners have always been ultra popular ever since the shift to Randomc.net from the old site, so I guess it’s a bit unfair to the other series.

Anyways, that isn’t really much of a problem. I actually thought the Fate/Zero spoilers on future events were worse, and those weren’t even that bad.

I love watching Anime and it’s even more enjoyable when people share their viewpoints and opinions with others. Doesn’t matter if those opinions are different or the same as mine. That’s why you have to ignore those haters.

This is awsome! That´s all I can see after seen this episode. If every episode from this on is like this then I have a winner for the best anime I´ve seen in a while. The character designs are beatiful, especially Inory and the personality of the main ones is really interesting.

Shuu is very different form your typical heroe and that might be good since I don´t think he is a hopeless coward, at the very least he has the determination to improve, shown in how he came back for Inori dispite it was almos suicide. I love when Character has grows and matures in the development, makes curious of how Shuu will turn out at the end.

Next Inori, I don´t words to discribe he, she has some kind of aura of determination around her that make imposible to judge her true character at first sight. She doesn´t seem you typical anime heroine at all, never seen someone take so much damage without saying a word.

I don´t think is possible to predict where the story is headed but I´m getting a lot of vibes similar to Code Geass and that´s a good thing in my books. For now, what has me intriged is the behavor of Gai regarding Shuu, everything points out that he knew he was key for his plans, but his expressions afterwards don´t seem to indicate that. Oh weel, I fell in love of this show after the first minute so I´m exieted for what is coming.

Divine is a horrible person and should die in a fire at the bottom of the bottomless pit and RandomC’s servers should be tossed in with him and all copies of everything ever on here should be blown to pieces as target practice at the nearby gun range since divine is a horrible person for having any thoughts about this show while in the anime-blog world /sarcasm

This show is much better than I thought it would be. Granted, a lot of people were saying good things about it but I was still skeptical until I seen the first episode. It was fairly good and will definitely be something I will watch all they way through!

Definitely like the post-apocalyptic storyline (anything with war and the aftermath intrigues me). But I am also curious as to what all this is about. The way it is presented makes it very interesting and I well look forward to it.

I was so worked up for this series since the PVs came out that the first thing i did when i got home from work was to download the HD version!! At the same time i’m always nervous that i might be disappointed with this series because the PV was so well made that i figured they can’t get any better than that! Well, i was wrong. I have to disagree with all the haters out there. I find Guilty Crown VERY PROMISING. The way the series started with the insert song was nicely executed. The animation, needlessly to say is flawless. Nice, crisp and the colour was breathtaking! The CG used was subtle so you get a feel of good old fashion anime but in HD. Everyone is entitled to their own take on this series but in its defence, please watch this series without prejudice. A LOT of you guys immediately compared it with Code Geass so of course you’ll think this series sucks and lacks originality. If you think about it, aren’t ALL anime series have the same sort of plot? storyline? I could compare the first episode almost identical to Gundam Seed where Kira pilots the Gundam and kicks his first ass by the end of the first episode. Macross Frontier too!! And Linebarrels of Iron and must i go on? In this first episode, we have the classic normal student Boy A meets mysterious and special pretty Girl B and shit happens and somehow Boy A gets the power to save the world and the girl. This is NORMAL in the anime world folks!! GET OVER IT!!! A lot of you guys dislike the main character cuz he’s a wuss but if you look at those flashbacks…..(kinda Gundam Seed Destiny ‘SHIN’ style) and the dying girl kinda looks like our heroine……one can derive and this is purely my guess is that she was supposely killed or got ‘infected’ (hence the lack of normal communication and mysterious invisibility and not to mention a giant ass sword pulled from her insides) and DID know our main character back then and he just had amnesia or blocked his memories from the tragedy. There’s no doubt that there will be A LOT of character development from hereon as the plot reveals itself with the next episodes.

So people, please take off your Code Geass glasses…..and watch this series with naked eyes!!

I realised we all make comparisons, it’s human nature and allows us to make decisions day in and day out BUT DAMN! All I hear these days is “This is better” or “omg it’s just another <enter successful game/anime/movie title"

I seriously think 2012 is going to be the end of the world, I bet God made another world and because they don't go on about comparisons all the time he'll give up on us and end all life as we know it. (lol that was random)

[The above post does not condone the belief in God, only the Incubators]

Errr.. The story was really too cliche for my liking. Lots of stupid decisions all through out the whole ep that I can quite fathom why the character did it. Great animation though. Following this one throughout the season.

Gotta admit, this blew my mind…. in a bad way. I was going into it expecting something high-quality in terms of plot and characters, maybe on the same level as Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, or Fullmetal Alchemist. Instead I got a cliche storm that thought that large hams were are on the menu for dinner. I won’t even try to list all the many things I found out to be predictable. But those stories can still be good, like One Piece did. It was cliche and hammy as hell, but it turned into awesomeness (for the manga anyway). This however, is simply trying too hard. It wants to be awesome, but it ends up a horrible mess, like wanna-be rappers who make the worst song rhymes you’ve ever heard.

The pacing was horrible, scene to scene, like Click said. For example, it’s obviously an episode that is trying to pack a lot into a small space, but then why do they need some scenes like the typical three bully guys getting beat up? What was the point of it? To show a guy has kung-fu? They could have done that at any point of time later when he’d actually contribute to something besides saying to a kid (who the kid has never met him before), to go be a big damn hero.

And I definitely agree that Ouma Shuu is like a clone of Shinji Ikari, except that Shinji had valid excuses for his deep depression and angst. This guy however does the logical thing and now has the chance to save her later, as well as get that plot artifact to it’s destination, instead of having bullets through his body, yet everyone, including himself thinks that he’s just a coward? lolwut?

A lot of the faults I see in this are simply anime being anime though, for good or bad, like the plot-key girl who is gentle, sings, and stands unaffected by her surroundings, like a knife to the throat or a giant street-smashing mech about to blow her to hell, the pathetic low self-esteem guy who wants “to be a real man!” by protecting the girl, and the villainous group specifically trying too hard to be evil, or the random songs that come up to try to be a drama enhancer. So, I will bear it, that’s simply a personal preference that hurts just me, others can ignore it though unaffected. After all, who comes to Gundam expecting a boy to not man the most technologically advanced military machines in war?

There are some things I did like though. The animation was spot on with everything, mostly fluid and clean. The environment, backstory, and social atmosphere were nice too. In fact, the whole setting felt realistic, besides the bit where international aid takes over the sovereignty of Japan in it’s state of vulnerability. Lol, I can’t even imagine the U.N. doing that. They don’t even have the guts to take over a small regional dictator (well, unless they visible bomb their own people). But to take over a nation that obviously has good behavior relatively and has economic power that would greatly benefit all if left alone, would not sit well for many international and national bodies. But I can ignore that “small” bit. I’ve seen far wilder sci-fi settings.

Anyway, overall, if I could rate episodes like video games, I’d give this a 7/10, average. It wasn’t utter shit, but it was nothing to remember either. It’s the stuff people don’t even like to hate, simply because of how unmemorable it was.

TL;DR. I just read some points of those freaking long paragraphs. What’s all with the rants? The producers decided to go with the “Basic of most basics”. These “Stereotype beginnings” have proven to be successful over the years so I don’t see a problem with them using it. Actually, IT’S NOT THAT BAD if you think of it. You were just expecting something bigger that you were disappointed when it didn’t meet your expectations.

And it seems that you didn’t even read the comments below Click’s post. He himself admitted that he judged too quickly. That scene was created to introduce a new character and their group. Or you’d rather have them chat to introduce each other?

IMO you’ve watched too much anime that you compare it to other big names. It’s only been an episode dude, it’s too early to tell. Get a life first then wait for the second one. Geass too was criticized on its first episode, complaining on how stereotype it was to show a “Fallen Japan” etc etc but it turned out great.

Ahh, yes, “Get a life” comments and other material directed at the commenter. If you have a problem with my review, take me down on my logic, rather than at me. I have nothing more to say on that stance. Regardless, this show came to me as something high standard, so I judged it by how it advertised itself. That’s why I even reviewed it at all here. But for the record, I couldn’t stand Code Geass, the characters and designs were unbearable to me, enough that plot was of little value to me, to save it. I kept imagining I could just chip their chins off and use it for a razor blade. Their personalities were horrifyingly stale and one/two-dimensional for me to take it seriously too.

Based on your other assumed talk about me, yes I did read below his other comments, and I think his second thoughts about it are misjudged. It could have simply been talked though by meeting them. The fighting and music along with it was totally pointless and random. I can see no reason to put it there. They could have introduced the organization in dozens of more notable ways that actually meant something in the long-term.

But since you didn’t seem to read the whole thing, you’d not know I don’t judge a work solely on one episode. I said One Piece redeemed itself in the long term, despite initially being everything I hate, but you wouldn’t know that. So hopefully this too redeems itself. Unlike One Piece however, it didn’t overhype itself like an egotistic asshole.

Sorry TheOrangeOne I thought came to this site to read Divine’s reviews, not yours.
Anyways per your “come at me with logic”, here we go:

“Regardless, this show came to me as something high standard, so I judged it by how it advertised itself.”

This show didn’t advertise itself, Divine advertised it via banners and popular community feedback. If you perceived it as high standard, you overhyped it yourself. Thus I think there’s only one other candidate for egotistical asshole here if it didn’t live up to your expectations.

Lol, then don’t read my comments if you don’t want reviews! I comment to comment about what the subject is, and that’s what I did. And I like going in-depth in what my opinions are! But no one’s forcing you to read what I say.

Who said I was judging it by RC’s advertisements about it?(the preview talk, the banners, background, and other images) You too are assuming things about me. I meant by it’s own quality of production, it’s own “try to be awesome” image about itself with tons of cool graphics and fashion designs and kung-fu action scenes with big mechs, a future world, big swords with crystals, neon cyber lights on hologram displays, and shit.

That’s what I meant by “advertise itself”? It’s like FFXIII all over again. Insane graphics and gameplay made by huge levels of money flung at the project, but the world lacks, no in-depth exploration of characters or setting in the slightest. It just doesn’t feel real or immersive. I feel no emotion or attachment to any of the characters at all.

The whole point of first episodes is to do that; to make an intro that makes an real impact in my mind, and then really add depth to it in later episodes. But all I saw were dolls moving in predictable ways. Not once throughout the whole episode did I feel in my mind “Wow, that was fucking awesome”, or “My God, I’m starting to tear-up here….”, or “Damn, this shit’s the real deal”. But yet it itself thinks it is like that with the constant scenes of angst, big guns, and rock/singer music. To all this I truly thought “Wow, they’re actually taking all this seriously to be something big, what a failure.”

I actually agree with you. To be honest, I didn’t read your whole review, but it just about sums up my thoughts. It seems as if the story lets down the potential of the animation and other amazing aspects. In this case, I think a first episode premiere meant to blow away the minds of viewers would have been fantastic, and may have even been attempted, but it didn’t work on me beyond the visuals. Your connection to One Piece is interesting, but I’ll have to offer my disagreement of One Piece starting out as a cliche’. Perhaps it can easily be generalized into the category of shonen, but Oda originated the story out of originality, have a protagonist being made out of rubbers, etc. As he has stated himself, he’s had the ending in mind since the beginning and I think the progressions you consider as “the story becoming better” has all been apart of his original intent. Anyways, again regarding Guilty Crown, I hope you’re right in that it can launch off with something more tasteful, because I too believe it’s perfectly possible still. Here’s to episode two~

Hey, just here to say that you shouldnt feel too bothered with people calling you a terrible blogger or something else. if by any reason this show happens to suck, its not your fault, you saw something that looked good, you got hyped, you got your hopes up, and then you told people “hey, this just might turn out really good…..” so you did good, humanly good, all else is dust in the wind

Well this anime isn’t bad and its quality is definitely top class. But I feel like this plot has been used before. The whole premise is WAY too similar to Code Geass, while the whole weapon extraction thing is almost identical to Shining Wind (a Sega PS2 Action JRPG that had an anime). So I guess because I saw both of those animes, I dont get as WOW’d as other people watching this.

I’ll still watch this series of course, but I guess its not gona be as exciting for me as it may be for some other people, since I’ve seen similar stuff already.

This isn’t directed only to you but if you are predisposed into thinking that it’s not going to be exciting then it’s probably going to be just that.

I don’t think many of you are even bothering to give the show a chance. One freaking episode has aired. One. There seems to be a lot more negativity than necessary just because the series was hyped. This was far from being the worst premiere. And yet, people are already making stupid assumptions like how the story is going to like “this anime” or how this character is going to be like “this character”. Just sit down and try to enjoy the bloody show. Some may not end up liking it in the long run and that’s fine, but there’s really no need to be so nitpicky when the show has only just barely defined the setting of the story.

And clearly you’re being even more negative with your butthurt responses. This show being hyped had nothing to do with my opinion, because if you bothered to read, you’d have known that my reasons for not being impressed is due to the fact that everything has been done and predictable thus far. The only thing different from Code Geass so far is the whole weapon extraction from other people’s soul, and even that has been done in Shining Wind, which I’ve seen.

Now get off your high horse, because other people’s opinions are just as valid as yours.

“This isn’t directed only to you”, the second paragraph was more of a general response to the whole thread. Funny you tell me to get off my high horse when I was thinking the same for some others here. I’m just saying that people need to give the show more of a chance, hold off the assumptions that the rest of the series is going to be like “this” or in you case “not as exciting” just because it has a few cliches or things that have been done. They are obviously there but like it’s been said before, it’s all about the execution of the story and Guilty Crown has only just laid out the ground work. It’s too early to judge anything properly.

I’m just suggesting that if you or anyone else are going to go into the rest of the series, it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit more positive about it.

Do you know who won the this years Japan Media Arts Award for animation? Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei. Do you know what was one of the most unprofitable Noitamina Shows ever?(same time slot as Guilty Crown) Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei. All of you who complain that the anime nowadays are too cliche and there’s not enough artistry, dont realize that its a failed model that almost brought the industry to bankrupt. Until you guys start paying for your art, it’s going to continue to cater to the general public. Sorry the niche days of evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, are gone. You guys just dont make enough money for the time and investment. Welcome to the age of the Internet and Harry Potter.
Personally I’d rather create something that is less creative but enjoyed by everyone, rather then something so creative that noone else enjoys. Something that ONLY you, yourself enjoys, that my friend, is the true definition of masturbation.

Nice animation, but the characters just doesn’t make sense. You just met a cute terrorist(as far as you’re concerned), and you’re chastised for doing the most logical thing to not throw away your life by charging into a gun totting soldiers just to save said terrorist? I can’t take the blond guy seriously anymore after that chastising scene lol. Still gonna follow this though since animation and music-wise, it’s excellent. I just hope I won’t face-palm too many time until the end XD

I’ve watched the first episode of Guilty Crown, I say this might be one of the biggest release this season of so many good shows. Being an “Original Anime” is the icing of the cake.

At least in Guilty Crown, I wouldn’t be reading comments from self proclaimed gurus how keep on spoiling people and bugging people who aren’t interested in playing/reading the visual novels because they think we are left out of the party and wouldn’t understand what that series in question is all about.

I might as well watch UN-GO.

That is 12 series this season alone, not counting completed series I am watching currently or the carry overs from previous seasons.

So far for Guilty Crown episode 1…

- Nice Animation CHECK
- Post-apocalyptic story that is intriguing CHECK
- Young boy with sudden awakening of superpowers that is NOT being annoying/not decisive. CHECK
- That is a cute girl with a nice singing there…CHECK
- Indiscriminate killing of the populace CHECK

Wow – I’m been embarrassed that I though some of my comments (from this and other series) were wordy -
but this is great to see 2 pages of comments! And the episode’s only a few days olde!

Divine, I have a request, though. I noticed the 4 music links and they are very, very appreciated
(as I really enjoy this music and Anime music in general).

However I’m not even a newbie when it comes to navigating those Japanese pages – is it possible
to provide a direct link to the mp3 itself that each RC link above references (I assume it’s
an mp3)? Maybe the Japanese text of it so we can pattern match which to click would be excellent.
None appear to point directly to an mp3 – is an account required? TiA…

Most overhyped anime of the season. Not bad, but not OMGSUPERAWESOME as the ads would have you believe.

Not it’s divine’s fault, of course, it’s not like he wrote the script or anything. Anyway, seriously:
1. Wimpy kid encounters mysterious girl and gets mystical powers. Oh god, where to begin – why, why, why a high-schooler? I thought notaiminA targets audience outside your typical demographic, so why the need to include this shounen cliche?
2. The “Japan gets mistreated by foreigners” bit, as previously used in Code Geass and Infinite Stratos (novel only, and even that only mentioned in passing). I live in a developing country instead of a developed country and even I think this portrayal is silly. Heck, now that I think about it, isn’t Japan an advanced country itself? Why must its writers always pretend that they’re being oppressed by others?
3. (Noble) rebels fighting against the (blatantly evil) system. It was fun back in Star Wars because it’s relatively fresh by film standard, but now? Unless they pull a subversion in the middle by showing that the rebels have their own skeletons in the closet and that the GHQ actually has some good points, I’m not impressed.

As I said above – not bad, but nothing stellar. I guess my criticism was harsh mostly because of the hype surrounding it which made me believe for a moment that Guilty Crown was truly special – otherwise I would have just wave off the whole silly bits and just accept this as a popcorn movie.

I’m going to follow it for a while, but unless there’s suddenly something exceptional showing up this won’t become anime of the season for me, let alone anime of the year.

It has a lot of potential. A good contrast of characters within it that can lead to very good character development. Like lets get real, he’s an introvert, that’s figured out how to interact with people by assumptions. He’s not very good at communication in the first place, and of course he’s never changed this habit. Of course, it’s pretty cliche-ish when he pulled out the sword (Shining X Wind reference anyone) and presumably slices a mech without a single problem, but it’s not that big of a deal to me. I really like the music is another plus. Perhaps the pacing was a bit too fast, but it wasn’t entirely a bad thing. There is a lot of good things, and at the same time it’s a lot of bad things. It has a lot of potential to be a very good anime though.

Here are some of the quotes from the previews…
“shuu plz use me” hints at the women being a weapon.
“10 years, the Apocalypse Virus messed up this country” there’s your setting.
Gai,”What happened to the women who was with this, did you abandon her?””Ouma shuu is a coward?” There’s your hint of the main character’s personality.
“what the heck am I trying to do here…maybe this is the last chance for me not to start to hate myself.” “Don’t let her go, this time, show me you can protect her!” “Occasionally, do something unlike myself!” Hints at redemption
I mean, everything is in the previews…
Most of the negative comments are from people that just pirate and dont even put forth the effort to know wtf they stole. The reason why people hype things up is cause they have SOME knowledge of what is going to happen beforehand. This is the number one reason why the response is so different out of Japan, versus native Japanese watchers. And yes the response is overwhelmingly positive there so there’s going to be even more hype.

Several years before, the majority of foreign anime watchers are just the “oh it’s free, i’m curious so i’ll watch type”. Now there is clearly two types. Those who just watch anime to waste time cause its free and don’t really care much about and those who have clearly become fans and are immersed in the culture or enjoy watching the shows. If you actually go the sites that stream and read the forum responses, most it is “constructive”, where as if you read comments from sites from supposed “experts” it’s mostly filled with trolls.

I only use this site for the calendar to keep track of when shows come on. This site, myanimlist, and animenewsnetwork, seems to congregate people who spend more time ranting, engaging in pissing/ranking contests, then actually watching the shows. This is probably one of the number one reasons why divine is “burned out”. There is a distant “unpleasant” faction among white otaku.

I don’t think it’s fair to call Shu a coward. He only acted like any normal human being would under those circumstances. A school boy has no chance against a unit of trained armed soldiers. Then, I found it quite stupid when he just ran in against a huge robot. It might be brave, but stupid.

Imagine if somebody made clothes that only fits one person. Would you pay 5.2billion dollars for that shirt? Cause that’s how much the anime business makes per year. Since you’re a foreigner, so only about 20% of that, would you play 104 million? Cause if you can, then they will definitely make an anime catered only to you. No cliches, wait do you even know what you would like in an anime? Not what you don’t like, what you actually like. Then take that idea, and tell everyone you know, and ask them their opinion.

It seems that Shu may have a forgotten history with Inori based on Shu’s visions. Same way that Ganta has a forgotten history with Shiro in Deadman Wonderland.

Also, there is a girl piloting the rebel mech. Kallen 2.0?

Starts like Code Geass in that you barely know what’s going on. You just know that Japan is screwed up and that some kid has just run into some fugitive chick that gives him superpowers.

The resistance may have trusted Shu because they may know who/what he is, something he may not be aware of. Inori went directly to his hideout, may have been looking for him. It’s likely Shu may have amnesia or something.

This is a great anime. I mean the animation, the opening story, the song and especially the song. I don’t really listen to Japanese songs on every anime I watch or any other Japanese song but this particular one I really liked. <3 Hope it gets better! Can't wait for the next episode!!

And I thought Gundam, as the most venerated franchise running this season would have the most posts…really, the post count here at RC is good tool for making quick and dirty measurements of any one show’s popularity…

… Wait RC does PAGES of comments ?? I did not realize this >>;. Series is indeed awesome. I loved the BGM, and the sci-fi within a fairly realistic post-apocalyptic japan made things quite interesting. I look forward to following this series and seeing how things play out.

Also: Hanazawa was one of the roles?? o_o;; and I DIDNT NOTICE? …*turns in his fanboi card* … hopefully I can reclaim it next week orz. Noticed Taketatsu Ayana right off the bat, though. ^_^;… orz….

I originally set the comment threshold really high to avoid pages unless absolutely necessary since there’s no way to show all comments on one page, but recently dropped it down to 100. Note that nested comments don’t count towards the 100 threshold though.

If Guilty Crown is such a thing as all you critics out there stated, then by definition…it it a good thing.

Ghost in the Shell
Bubblegum Crisis
Code Geass

What does all these shows have in common?! There were all great shows. SO if Guilty Crown model after then, while it may not be original, it is without a doubt be a great in and out of itself. It too will follow these shows’ path. LOL, so Divine wasn’t too far off after all. :D

Everyone who is saying this is like Code Geass, just wait until you see episode 2. Complex plan that goes off perfectly down to the second and leads to total victory through the magic of reflected lasers. Only difference is Lelouch isn’t the main character, just an important secondary one.

More intriguing about the series itself is the historical setting. GHQ’s excuse to occupy Japan was because of a virus and when they want to make a “clean-up”, they just need to put the blame on it, claiming that the victims were infected. Makes me wonder if the virus was a creation of them to justify their invasion, and if there is actually a virus at all.

Well, all in all, the visuals and quality were very well done. The music was also stunning, and some of the characters are actually pretty interesting. However, this show has some problems too.

The pacing was atrocious and I could barely get a hold onto some characters. Inori was your typical, vapid, singing, female lead, right down to her pacifist ideals and bubblegum-pink hair. Shu was barely a character in my opinion; by the end of the first episode I could only say two things about him: he’s a whiny coward and has low self-esteem. That was it, and that’s a horrible thing to say about a show’s main character.

Some might say, “that’s because it’s the first episode!”, but the problem is, that would be a fine excuse for anyone other than the lead character. For example:

By the end of the first episode of Code Geass, I knew Lelouch had a past, was non-confrontational when he was put under pressure, was a tactical genius, and wasn’t afraid to take the initiative when provided with the right tools.
By the end of the first episode of Gundam Seed, I knew Kira was smart, could do things others couldn’t do, was shy around others, cared for those around him, was a pacifist at heart, and didn’t like to be pushed into pressuring situations.

Shu in this episode is very bland and almost one-dimensional. I winced every time he was whining about what a coward he was on screen. I can only hope that he gets better with time, but if he continues in this vein for the rest of the show, a la Kamille (from Gundam Zeta), I will drop this show like a hot potato.

As for all the other characters, especially the Undertakers and their enigmatic leader, I look forward to finding out more about them.

For those comparing it to Code Geass, I do see the similarities even though I really didn’t find myself comparing them in my head until the last scene with Inori and Shu. I however, didn’t feel the same grab for this episode as I did for the first episode of Geass. With Geass by the first episode, I had a liking for the main character, I could understand the main plot, and I had a hate for the villains; I could actually care about the characters that I was being shown. I just was getting that from Guilty Crown.

I can only hope it gets better from here. I really do want to like this story.

I like mysteries!
Shu, who is he?
Another one of those with a mysterious past.
Sealed memories?
Past life? :P

Crystallized girl, genome..
Could Shu be the cause of that virus epidemic thing?
Or a victim?

Whitecoats and Blackcoats.
Seems like Gai knows a lot.

A lot of obvious hints that Shu is more then he himself knows or remember.
Why so? Someone sealed his memories? A consequence of a failed attempt at something?
One can only guess with so little info at this point.

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